DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand's water resources, notably water from the Himalayan glaciers and rivers, address the water need of people of the state and India as a whole. However despite the state's multiple water reserves including 17 rivers, several snow fed glaciers, and 31 lakes, many districts of Uttarakhand face acute water scarcity.
Water resources are diverted for activities in many sectors including agriculture, energy, tourism and forestry. The agriculture sector is the greatest consumer of water in the state, accounting for 75% of the total demand. Increasing population and rising standard of living also led to a great demand for water.
The state's water scarcity is linked to the unsystematic distribution of water and poor management of water resources. Many of the state's rural water supply system no longer meet community needs, especially when frequent landslides damage water pipes and infrastructure.
The quality of water too have deteriorated in some regions. Communities in the hills are dependent of local springs, which periodically dry up due to lack of recharge during the summer months. Implementing pumping schemes is seen as costly and energy incentive.
According to RN Jha, chief conservator of forests in Environment section of the forest department , In a vulnerability and Risk Assessment study conducted by the team of State Climate Change wing it is found that Pauri Garhwal and Dehradun are currently the most vulnerable due to less surface water and ground water availability and, high crop water stress in the non-monsoon (rabi) season. Champawat, Bagheshwar and Pithoragarh are relatively the least vulnerable due to factors such as better availability of surface and ground water.
Deterioration of water quality in in sources and springs due to heavy rainfall has been reported by many villages in the study including Chameli (Tehri Garhwal) and Karni Guth (Champawat), which is expected to worsen under the extreme precipitation events. All villages have also observed that the changing patterns of snowmelt and rainfall are impacting the quantity of water available in these local sources.
Sources are drying up due to lack of ground water recharge in summers. Decreased precipitation in the post-monsoon season has already been observed on the ground, and the trend is projected to continue in future, posing a particular risk to villages, which have no irrigation such as Karni Guth, Chameli and Kantari (Uttarkashi).
"Implementing water storage and conservation options is an important consideration to increase climate resilience now and in future. In terms of protecting water supply from the impacts of extreme precipitation events, establishing and strengthening early warning systems (EWS) will be important, ensuring last mile connectivity to villages so that preventive measures may be taken to protect water sources," he said.
The study also concluded that the existing developmental stresses will be exacerbated by climate change variability and change. Higher temperatures and changes will affect distribution of rainfall, snowmelt, river flows and groundwater reserves, and negatively impact water supply and quantity.
Adaptation to climate change is featured in India's national Water Policy of 2012, which calls for water management strategies, plans and interventions that take into account the impact of a changing climate on water availability, quantity and quality.
